at Narrandera, New South Wales. In August of that year, all Newmart Supermarkets operated by Bi-Lo in Western Australia were transferred to the management of Coles Supermarkets. One Newmart Supermarket located in Bentley, Western Australia was rebadged as Coles, subsequently closing in September 2017. In 2003, Bi-Lo relaunched with the slogan "Why Pay More". In July 2006, Coles Myer CEO John Fletcher announced a strategy to progressively re-brand Bi-Lo, Kmart, First Choice Liquor, Liquorland and Theo's under the Coles banner. Bi-Lo supermarkets were to be re-branded as Coles supermarkets, with others changing to other Coles Group businesses. Coles planned to keep some Bi-Lo lines in its re-branded stores. Re-branding Bi-Lo stores began later in 2006 and had been expected to be completed by mid-2007. A small number of stores were to be re-branded Coles Discount Grocery where a Coles Supermarket already existed in the same complex (for example, at Westfield Fountain Gate). However, Northcote Shopping Centre have two Coles Supermarkets in their proximity which were former Bi-Lo sites, and they still operate to this day. Some stores, such as Bi-Lo Arkaba in South Australia, were originally Coles Supermarkets before being re-branded to Bi-Lo in the late 1990s. Some Bi-Lo stores were re-branded to Coles Supermarkets, despite Coles already existing in the same shopping centre (like Northcote Plaza and Ingle Farm Shopping Centre, where there are two Coles stores). However, Coles Group announced in March 2007 it was "pausing" the re-branding of Bi-Lo stores to Coles, following the poor results of the 129 stores re-branded thus far. Market analysts commented that the conversion program was unsuccessful due to Coles' transforming of stores in affluent areas first, the replacement of Bi-Lo's budget items with more expensive equivalents, and the removal of trademark budget meat packs. Reflecting on the failed conversion strategy later in 2007, Coles chief operating officer Mick McMahon stated "a strategy you can't execute is probably not the right strategy". In October 2008, Coles stated it was planning to create a discount supermarket chain to replace the remaining Bi-Lo stores. In 2009, Coles stated it would sell eight of the remaining Bi-Lo stores to rival chain Foodworks. Further stores were closed or marked for closure due to poor performance and small store size, including Armidale and Merimbula. At its peak, Bi-Lo had more than 180 stores and employed 13,600 people. By March 2009, only 48 stores remained, largely in NSW